The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beeching
Day 22 – Saturday after Lent 3 – Glory To God Forever
To Read:
From the Scriptures:
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58 Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
59 He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’60 Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’
61 Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’62 Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’
(Luke 9v57-62)
From Vicky Beeching:
Glory To God Forever
Take my life and let it be
All for You and for Your glory
Take my life and let it be Yours (repeats)
Before You made the world
Before You spoke it to be
You were the King of kings
Yea You were yea You were
And now You’re reigning still
Enthroned above all things
Angels and saints cry out
We join them as we sing
Glory to God
Glory to God
Glory to God forever (repeat)
Creator God You gave me breath
So I could praise
Your great and matchless name
All my days all my days
So let my whole life be
A blazing offering
A life that shouts and sings
The greatness of the King
Chorus
Take my life and let it be
All for You and for Your glory
Take my life and let it be Yours (repeats)
Chorus
You are glorious
You are glorious, Jesus (repeats)
To Listen: Glory To God Forever by Vicky Beeching
To Reflect:
How many times in how many different circumstances to how many different tunes have you sung the hymn ‘Take my Life and Let it Be’? There are four very popular traditional tunes as well as several contemporary versions. I have even sung it to the tune of ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets’[1]
The hymnwriter Frances Havergal, a daughter of the vicarage, as a 14-year-old wrote these very Wesleyan words when she consecrated her own life:
‘I committed my soul to the Saviour, and earth and heaven seemed brighter from that moment.’
Later on she describes the genesis of the hymn as she turned her own commitment to our Beloved into a care for the salvation of others:
‘I went for a little visit of five days. There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for; some converted, but not rejoicing Christians. He gave me the prayer: “Lord, give me all in this house.” And He just DID! Before I left the house everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit, after I had retired, the governess asked me to go to the two daughters. They were crying, etc. Then and there both of them trusted and rejoiced. It was nearly midnight. I was too happy to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration; and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart one after another till they finished with “ever, only, all for Thee”’
Have you ever been ‘too happy to sleep’? I have.
I have also met some ‘converted, but not rejoicing Christians’. Occasionally I have been the one who is numbered amongst the ‘not rejoicing’!
Vicky’s version of Frances’ words reminds us that offering God our life isn’t just about the worship of our Beloved but sharing that worship and the joy of self-giving with others. We are to worship not only with our songs on Sundays but every day and with every part of our life.
Take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Every word is to be praise every day is to be dedicated service and in her words Frances rewrite’s Teresa of Avila’s famous words:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
(Teresa of Avila – 1515–1582)
It is in living everyday lives of righteousness and performing acts of unquestioning service that the glory of God is revealed.
Take my life and let it be
All for You and for Your glory
Take my life and let it be Yours (repeats till we are all Home at last)
To Pray:
O Lord God, Holy Father
I am no longer my own, but Thine.
Put me to what Thou wilt,
rank me with whom Thou wilt;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for Thee or laid aside for Thee,
exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee;
let me be full, let me be empty;
let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and heartily yield all things
to Thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am Thine. So be it.
And the Covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
(The Methodist Shorter Book of Offices)
To Do:
The next time you prepare for worship pray to receive God’s prayer for that moment and not only your own needs and desires.
Sing, Take my Life and Let it Be.
Here is a simple solo version if you want something to sing along to:
oooOOOooo
If you would like to find out more about Vicky and her work here is a link to her Wikipedia entry. For a fuller picture her autobiography ‘Undivided’ is highly recommended
Please Note: These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com on Bluesky as @suffolkvicar.bsky.social, and on my public Facebook page Suffolk Vicar – Rev Andrew Dotchin.
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Acknowledgements:
These Reflections, ‘The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beaching’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that their source is acknowledged.
All of the music on the video clips are from YouTube and are © Vicky Beeching.
If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings. A full discography and other information about Vicky can be found on her website vickybeeching.com.
Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Prayers are from A Diary of Prayer compiled by Elizabeth Goudge and are copyright © 1966 The Estate of Elizabeth Goudge.
[1] If you find yourself leading worship with members of the Armed Forces why not try this tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdVmj2FE-oU
Suffolk Vicar 